EST analysis of gene expression in testis of the ascidian Ciona intestinalis

• Published in: Molecular reproduction and development Vol. 62; no. 4; pp. 431 - 445
• Main Authors: Inaba, Kazuo, Padma, Potturi, Satouh, Yuhkoh, Shin-i, Tadasu, Kohara, Yuji, Satoh, Nori, Satou, Yutaka
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company 01.08.2002; Wiley-Liss
• Subjects: acrosome; Animals; Ascidiacea; Biological and medical sciences; Ciona intestinalis; Ciona intestinalis - genetics; Ciona intestinalis - physiology; Expressed Sequence Tags; flagella; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gene expression; Gene Expression Profiling; Gene Expression Regulation - physiology; genome; Male; Marine; Molecular and cellular biology; Molecular genetics; Ovum - metabolism; Protein Biosynthesis; Sequence Analysis, DNA; Signal Transduction - physiology; sperm; spermatogenesis; Spermatogenesis - genetics; Spermatogenesis - physiology; Spermatozoa - metabolism; spermiogenesis; Testis - metabolism; Transcription, Genetic; Spermatozoa; Motility; Ciona intestinalis; Spermiogenesis; Transcription; Spermatogenesis; Flagellum; Prochordata; Germinal cell; Cell differentiation; Gene expression; Testicle; Male genital system; Genetic translation; Urochordata; Signal transduction; Regulation(control); Invertebrata; Acrosome; Genome
• ISSN: 1040-452X; 1098-2795
• DOI: 10.1002/mrd.10131

To explore the gene expression underlying spermatogenesis, a large‐scale analysis has been done on the cDNAs from testis of the ascidian, Ciona intestinalis. A set of 5,461 expressed sequence tags was analyzed and grouped into 2,806 independent clusters. Approximately 30% of the clusters showed significant sequence matches to the proteins reported in DDBJ/GenBank/EMBL database including a set of proteins closely related to the gene regulation during spermatogenesis, functional and morphological changes of spermatogenic cells during spermiogenesis, and physiological functions of sperm, as well as those with housekeeping functions commonly expressed in other cells. Some clones show similarities to the proteins present in vertebrate lymphocytes, suggesting a primitive immune system in ascidians. We have also found some genes that are known to participate in hormonal regulation of spermatogenesis in vertebrates. The large majority of the genes expressed in Ciona testis show no significant matches to known proteins and the further analysis of these genes may shed new light on the molecular mechanism of spermatogenesis and sperm functions. Mol. Reprod. Dev. 62:431–445, 2002. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.